Maple Leaves and Gilbirds (re-done)
by blueboxgirl19
Summary: During his last year of high school, Gilbert meets and quickly befriends Matthew. As the two bond it becomes increasingly clear that what they view each other a little more than friends. But will they be able to keep the relationship they have, or will they have to break it off sooner than they had expected? - Lots of gore and sexual themes in later chapters
1. Prologue

Maple Leaves and Gilbirds

Prologue

"Here you go, a Butterscotch latte. Is there anything else I could get you?" the barista slid the hot cup in a cardboard holder and gave it to the customer. "Have a great… day." She said as the customer dashed out of the small café muttering a quick thanks, waving her off. Where were they going so early in the morning that they had to rush out? They could have taken their time and let themselves relax while smelling freshly ground coffee brewing and the tea she was blending. Well, whatever. There isn't much she can really do about it, hopefully they will at least enjoy the cup of coffee, savor it at the least.

The bell above the door rang and an old man shuffled in. He had his bright white hair combed over to cover some of the balding he had and a pair of thin wire glasses perched on his nose.

"Good morning Mr. Beilschmidt, how are you today?"

"Well, I believe I am doing well today Rose. I'm not as creaky as I was yesterday, I feel awesome. How are you?" The old man said as he put a little skip in his step as he made his way to the front counter.

"I'm doing great as well. The usual?" Rose said as she grabbed two small cups. Giving him a great big smile.

"Ah, you know me all too well. Yes, yes two small coffees please." Mr. Beilschmidt chuckled his awesome old man chuckle. "How is your grandmother doing Rose? Still kickin' hard in that nursing home?"

"Oh, you know her. Grandma is livin' it up in there. She sent another care giver to the hospital again. Somehow she got a hold of that frying pan again. We still don't know how she keeps getting it." Rose said as she filled the cups with a Maple Roast coffee.

"The poor care giver, that frying pan is deadly. I hope he will make it out okay." Mr. Beilschmidt cringed thinking about the times that frying pan sent him to the hospital. That woman had a mean throw with that pan. He watched Rose put covers over the small coffees and slip the cups in a cardboard holder and set them on the counter. She turned quickly to the glass case that held some of the baked good she made this morning. Putting on a glove and grabbing a small paper bag she pulled out two pumpkin muffins and put them into the bag. She set them on the counter next to the coffees and turned around to her display of flavorings. She picked a tiny vile of maple syrup and put it into another bag.

"Alright, two small roast coffees. Your total is $4.00 even Mr. Beilschmidt." The cash register beeped a bit as she hit the buttons.

"Aw Rose, you didn't have to throw in that stuff. How much is it for all of it?"

"You come in here every day Mr. Beilschmidt and brighten my mood. And may I add that two muffins and a vile of maple syrup isn't going break the bank? They are on the house, please take them." Rose gave him a slightly doe-eyed sad look and she watched him stare for a minute, looking like he was taken aback for a moment before he snapped out of it.

"Okay, okay. But just this once, alright? I am a prideful man! I have the means, I will pay. Understood?" He said as he took his wallet out from his back pocket and took out four dollars. Rose stood at attention and saluted him with a serious face before taking his money with a proud smile. She knew that he would let her get away with it again, it happened every time. It was the sad puppy dog look, always worked like a charm.

"I understand completely. It will not happen again, sir." Rose said with another serious face and punctuated it with a simple nod before letting out another smile. She grabbed the coffees and bags and handed them to the old man before he put the bags into his backpack and shuffled to the door.

"See you later, Mr. Beilschmidt. Have a great day!" Rose said with a wave.

"Yes, yes I will. And stop calling me Mr. Beilschmidt. How many times do I have to tell you that you can call me Gilbert?" He said as he opened the door.

"Maybe next time, watch your step!"

"I am, I am." Gilbert said as he raised his hip a little higher to get his left leg over the doorstep. Letting the door shut behind him, he took a right.

It was early morning and the air was crisp, as it should be for autumn. Red and yellow leaves were falling off of trees and pumpkins were perched on doorsteps and in some windows of a few shops here and there. A couple cars drove by and made small tornados of the leaves on the streets. Gilbert breathed in the cold air and kept shuffling forward.

Reaching an intersection, he looked both ways before he crossed the street. Gazing at his moving feet Gilbert thought about Rose. She was such a nice girl; polite, gracious, and giving. He supposed she took after her grandfather.

Kicking a rock with his right foot, his knee gave and he buckled a bit before regaining his balance. He quickly got to the sidewalk where there was a bus bench, thankfully. He set the coffees and his backpack down before he set himself down. Rolling his left pant leg up, Gilbert readjusted his prosthetic leg to a more comfortable position; he just wanted to walk like a regular old man dammit. He hated that leg with a passion, but he was not about to use crutches or hop everywhere, no way. That would be much to embarrassing.

Rolling the fabric back down to cover the offending hunk of metal and plastic. Gilbert stood back up, picked up his things, and walked (much more comfortably than before he would say) eastbound, watching his feet as they moved him.

Suddenly, he saw a huge leaf move in front of him. Stopping on it to keep it from floating away, Gilbert noticed that it was a deep red maple leaf. Picking it up he was awestruck at how pristine it was, he felt bad for stepping on it. He turned it over by the stem and searched for any imperfections, but he couldn't find any. It was completely flawless. Putting it in his pocket Gilbert continued forward.

A few blocks later and Gilbert came to the edge of the town's cemetery. He followed the path that divided the cemetery and the forest until he came to a turn in the path. Pressing forward a few more paces he came face to face with a giant old tree. The tree glowed red and green as the low sun began rising to reach above it. This old tree was as beautiful as it was stubborn, it never really loses its leaves until the end of November; while all of the other trees lost their leaves later on. Gilbert would never know how the old tree did it.

Gilbert walked closer to the tree and gazed at the spot where it looked like someone scraped the bark off. He set the coffee down and thoughtfully kissed his hand and placed it over the exposed tree as if he were apologizing. He looked down and let his eyes follow the ground until his eyesight hit stone. Walking over to the side of the gravestone, Gilbert sat down. He grabbed the coffees and opened his bag to grab out the maple syrup. Taking off the lids and opening the vile, he poured some syrup into both cups and swirled them to mix it in. Placing the lids back on he set one in front of the grave and kept one for himself.

Gilbert would stay here for most of his day, underneath the tree next to the gravestone. He would talk, quite a bit actually. Not much of any real importance; how he was feeling that day, what he did the night before, about Rose. He would talk about anything to be honest, the gravestone never complained and always listened. Maybe that's why Gilbert found it so comforting? It was always there to listen to him and helped him think when he needed to find a solution to something. He always thought the gravestone didn't mind, in fact, Gilbert would believe that the gravestone enjoys his company as well, so he would talk. And talk he would, until late dusk, when he finally decided that it would be best if he went home.

Today was just the same, he sat and talked. He talked about the newest election, and the middle east. He talked about how there were some crazy kids running around town trying to catch "Pokémon". He even pointed out a few. And when the sun finally set, Gilbert stood up. He pulled the leaf from his pocket and placed it on the bottom ledge of the gravestone and then grabbed the cold coffee. He dumped the coffee out at the tree base and put the cup and lid back together.

"It was a wonderful day today." Gilbert said as he turned.

A small gust of wind almost seemed to say "yes, it was".


	2. Boy or Girl?

Maple Leaves and Gilbirds

Boy or Girl?

1955

There was nothing better than spending the night with your best friends and alcohol. You could laugh and get carried away and know that someone wasn't going to fuck with you. It's a comforting thing to know that you could get hammered and still wake up the next morning alive because your best buddies watched over you and made sure that you didn't drink yourself to death.

Tonight wasn't one of those nights though; tonight Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis were just sitting around a campfire on the outskirts of the town cemetery with two cases of cheap beer. It was a leisurely night for these three friends, they didn't need to get too drunk. Tomorrow was Sunday and they would have to be up and ready for church. Its written in the Bible somewhere that one can't come to the Lord's house with a hangover – well, it has to be at least.

And maybe it would be okay to get a little hungover and sin if the day after tomorrow were not the first day of school. Alas, it was. Not much Gilbert and his friends could really do about it. Hopefully the first day of their last year wouldn't be a drag. Gilbert hoped the teachers wouldn't assign work within the first five minutes of class and take his time away from friends and the television.

"I think this year I'm going to really try focusing on school." Antonio said, a little too serious. Francis gave Gilbert a look of disbelief before both turned their heads to the brunet taking a swig of his beer.

"What does that mean Tonio?" Both spoke slowly, still processing that Antonio – their Antonio! – was going to focus on school. Sure he should, but what are the consequences? Not being able to hang out with his friends as often as he does?

"Well… you guys know that I almost failed last year. Without your guy's help at the end there I don't think I would have to repeat a year. I don't want something like that to happen again." Antonio turned his bottle in his hands, inspecting it carefully.

"So?" urging him to continue.

"Well, I really thought over what I did last year. You know, so I could figure out what I did that sent me down the wrong path. And I realized that instead of doing homework and studying I went out with you two to parties or was out on dates, or at work. So I thought of which one I could live without." Looking up he found Francis and Gilbert staring at him with questioning and anxious looks.

"Oh calm down, I'm not taking out two out of my life this year. The parties shall go on." He saw the relief on both of their faces.

"So you're quitting your job?" Francis said, chuckling a bit.

"Nope. I've decided that I can't date anymore." Antonio said and sighed when he heard the howling and laughter from his friends. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything. "I'm totally serious you guys. This year I really want to apply myself."

"Okay, alright. We get it. But are you sure you are able to?" Gilbert asked, calming himself down. "I mean it's not like we don't believe that you want to Tonio. But you love going on dates and fucking girls. I mean we all do; we are the BTT. And besides, won't your dick shrivel up after a few weeks of no action?"

Antonio groaned. "Gilbert. Don't say that, the thought of abstinence and focusing on school is horrible enough, but why do you have to scare me with the thought of a dry dick?"

"Alright Toni. I'm assuming you told us this so you could ask us for help, am I right?" Francis said.

"That would be nice of you guys, yes." Antonio said with a hopeful face. He was hoping that they could maybe do this with him. Or at least cut down how much "dating" they do, that would help a lot.

Francis and Gilbert looked at each other and nodded. "We will be supportive, but don't expect much from us. We like our action time."

"Hey, maybe we could have like study parties?" Antonio's eyes gleamed with hope as he stared at his friends, waiting for their reaction.

"What the fuck Antonio?" Gilbert stood up, grabbing another beer.

"Antonio, my friend, listen. That is not happening. Not ever." Francis stood up as well, "I think it is time we go, it's getting pretty late."

"You're right, it does sound stupid." The brunet got up and grabbed the bucket he was sitting on. He heaved as he dumped the sand onto the fire, mostly putting it out. Gilbert dumped his bucket of dirt, and Francis followed with his bucket of dirt.

Someone gently, but firmly knocked on Gilbert's door on Sunday morning. Must have been Ludwig waking him up for church. Cursing himself for not taking a shower last night the white haired teen got out of bed and slowly shuffled his way to the dresser across his room. Opening the top drawer and finding a pair of boxers, Gilbert shut it and sluggishly walked to the door.

He noticed that the door to the bathroom was closed, well he supposed that meant that he would just have to go get coffee first. He held onto the rail that led him downstairs and turned left, slightly wobbly, to go to the kitchen. Once there, Gilbert looked to the stove and saw the kettle. He walked over and opened it and was hit in the face with the smell of fresh coffee. Putting the kettle lid on the counter, he grabbed a large mug from the wire rack next to the sink. Filling his mug Gilbert felt the presence of another person. Turning, he found that his grandfather had come into the kitchen and was getting a mug for himself.

"Kaffee Opa?" (coffee grandpa?) Gilbert held up the kettle, indicating that he would fill the mug.

"Ja Gilbert, bitte." (yes Gilbert, please) Holding his mug out for his grandson to take, Gilbert took it and filled it before asking if he wanted cream and honey.

"Yes, and we will have to leave soon Gilbert, please get ready. Ludwig is out of the bathroom before you say it." Gilbert closed his mouth, the old man was good, always a step ahead.

"Ja Opa." He took a sip of his coffee and set it down on the counter before he left for the bathroom. Holding the rail again as he walked up the stairs, he passed Ludwig. Supposedly Ludwig had taken after their mother, golden blonde hair and cool blue eyes while Gilbert had gotten the recessive gene and was stuck with white hair, red eyes, and pasty white skin. When he was younger he really wanted to look like his brother, the perfect and beautiful baby. He was never really comfortable in his skin until he moved to America. For as conservative and stubborn as these Americans were, the young girls fawned over him like a fruit fly to a rotten banana. He guessed that American girls were tempted by the "exotic" look he presented. Maybe it's because he looks forbidden that turns girls on. Whatever it was he loved it; Gilbert finally felt like he mattered a little bit, even if it was just to fulfill someone's weird fantasy of fucking a demon because they felt like being a little rebellious. He didn't really care he guessed, as long as he was able to get off too it didn't matter.

Gilbert turned the water on for a shower before he stripped down. As he waited for the water to heat up he grabbed his toothbrush and the toothpaste. Looking at his face and upper body in the mirror he flexed a bit. He had muscles, that wasn't a fact to dispute, but they were not as bulky as Ludwig's. He looked like he was on the lankier side, but he had just enough muscle to compliment his height. His job at the lumber yard was really paying off on keeping him fit. Looking over to see steam coming out of the shower he reached in to turn down the heat of the water so he wouldn't scald his skin, he finished brushing his teeth before he jumped in to clean himself.

After Mass there was visitation in the basement of the church where they also served coffee and biscuits. Gilbert sat down at a table in the corner, Ludwig tagged along after he grabbed two coffees. He knew that Gilbert was still tired and not fully awake, otherwise he would have grabbed a cup for himself. Sitting next to his brother who was looking around, spacing out or looking for someone lazily – he couldn't tell – he slid one of the cups to his brother who looked down at it for a minute.

"Oh, thanks Ludwig." How Ludwig knew he would need one was beyond him at this moment so instead of thinking he took a sip. Believe it or not he was actually pretty awake when they first walked in through the doors of the church, but once the organ played and the priest started talking his consciousness just slipped from him and his head bobbed the entirety of the service. Ludwig kept nudging him keeping him mildly awake so their grandfather wouldn't notice.

Taking a few sips Gilbert waited for the caffeine to kick in so he could think. He looked around the room watching people interact with each other. He saw his grandfather talking with someone that Gilbert doesn't think he has met before. In fact, it looked like his grandfather was speaking to two people, and he could kind of make out a third person – maybe. It looked like there was someone on the other side of the kid who was loudly talking to his grandfather. But he really couldn't tell, damn he just really needs to wake up.

"Hey West, who is Opa talking to?" Gilbert squinted a bit, not to see who it was, but more of a thoughtful squint – he was wracking his brain to see if he knew them at all.

"They are new. Don't you remember the priest bringing them to the front and introducing them? You joined in the clapping."

"West, I was barely awake the entire time, do you really expect me to remember anything that happened in the service? Jesus himself could have come in and kissed away my albinism and I wouldn't remember any of it." Ludwig gave him a very disapproving look; the sass was back. Gilbert was starting to become more aware of his surroundings.

Gilbert was just about to look back at the people his grandfather was talking to when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Gilbert, you need to start drinking a few more cups of coffee before you come to church. Your head was all over the place." Francis took a seat next to his friend. Gilbert gave an annoyed look to his smirking friend. He was pretty sure Francis was eye – fucking every girl that looked at him.

"I'm sure you were paying so much attention too Francis. Does Marie look good today?"

"No need to get defensive my friend, I was only joking. But yes, Marie looks very ravishing. I might just go ask her how her day was today." The two brothers looked in the direction that Francis was looking and caught a glimpse of Marie, who was looking very good in her Sunday best.

"Go get her tiger." Gilbert gave his friend a slap on the back as he stood up and sauntered over to Marie.

"Gilbert, you shouldn't encourage him. We are inside of a church." The albino only chuckled.

"West, even if I said something it wouldn't make a difference. That man is blasphemy with legs, he wouldn't listen to me even if I told him his dick would fall off. Instead I am going to just sit back and watch and hope that Marie's father will work up the courage to throw a table at Francis for touching his daughter like that." Gilbert pointed in the direction of Francis who was a little too close to slipping his hand underneath her shirt that was untucked from her skirt. He moved his eyes a little to the left and saw Marie's father looking over at them. He politely cut off the person he was talking to and hurriedly walked towards his daughter. Gilbert settled back into his chair and sipped at his coffee, this was going to be good. He nudged Ludwig and pointed to make sure he was watching.

"Not exactly front row seats, but good enough right?" Gilbert grabbed one of the biscuits that was on the little plate sitting on the table. Both brothers watched as Marie and Francis jumped away from each other as her father approached. Her father backed Francis to the wall and looked like he was talking very slow and firm to him, and Francis tried to say something back which seemed to get Marie's father more angry - suddenly someone blocked the brother's view of Francis getting beat up.

"Hey man! I'm Alfred!" The kid that was talking to his grandfather before was standing right in front of their view with his hand out waiting for a hand shake. Gilbert moved his head to the side to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

"That's nice, hey could you move over? There is a fight about to start and we want to see it go down." Gilbert said, waving off Alfred's out reached hand. The boy turned around and followed Gilbert's eyesight to find a teen backed against a wall and an older man talking to him harshly.

"Gee, should they be doing that?" He asked, but took the open seat on Gilbert's side anyway.

"Who cares? It's just Francis anyway. He deserves this for being stupid." Gilbert leaned forward, waiting for Marie's dad to leave a black eye.

"Gilbert, he is your friend."

"Yes he is Ludwig, but he is also a dickhead. He is getting what he deserves." At this time Francis looked over at Gilbert for help who just shrugged and smiled. "He'll make it out alive."

"Boys, we are leaving."

"Aww come on Opa, Marie's dad is finally going to beat up Francis. I feel it this time, I don't think he is going to let this pass this time. We have to stay and watch!" Gilbert watched the fight as Ludwig stood up and took their dishes to the kitchen window so the old ladies that run the church kitchen can wash them.

"Come Gilbert, we need to leave. Alfred your father asked me to tell you that you are leaving also. We had planned to help your family to unpack your moving truck." Gilbert's grandfather blocked their view of the fight.

"Alright Opa. I'm coming."

Both him and Ludwig made a few stops on the way to the stairs to say good-bye to a few of the people left. Gilbert walked over and saved Francis from his impending doom and told Marie and her father to have a nice day before dragging Francis up the stairs with him.

"Thank you Gilbert, you are a life saver."

"Well I wouldn't have done that if I didn't have to leave. I wasn't going to miss you getting your ass beat for being stupid."

"Your words wound me Gilbert! How could you want that for a friend." Mock hurt covered Francis' face; he would have done the same if the roles were reversed. Antonio was the only one that would actually save them, he was just too kind and helpful when it came to his friends. Both Gilbert and Francis supposed that it was because he had a hard home life. Well they assumed he did at least. They had been friends with the happy go lucky brunet but have never met his parents or have gone into his house. They never really pressed on it, being outside or at Francis' house was where they preferred to be anyway.

"You're welcome for saving you though, but it would have been really funny." Francis laughed and nodded his head in agreement.

"For as much as it would have hurt, yes it would have been hilarious."

"I gotta go though, Opa is waiting for me. I'll see you later." Opening the door behind him Gilbert waved good-bye to his friend as he walked backward out the door. He turned around and looked for his grandfather's car and found that it was right in front of him. With the windows open Ludwig stared at him and pointed to the back seat. "If you wanted the front seat you should have hurried up." Gilbert sighed and opened the door to the backseat and climbed in.

"We will be helping the Jones' unload their moving truck today. So when we get home change into some old clothes and we will go help them."

"Where do they live Opa?" Ludwig asked.

"They live just across the street from us. I had also invited them over for dinner, so please behave Gilbert. I don't want to leave a bad impression on them. "

Gilbert looked at his grandfather in the rearview mirror with disbelief written all over his face. "Opa! How could you say that? I am always on my best behavior!"

"I was referring to your sass." Well, he couldn't fight that. He knew he had a tongue. They pulled into their drive way and each got out of their respective doors. They went in and Gilbert went straight to his room to change. He pulled out a pair of old ripped blue jeans and black shirt and stripped off his Sunday best and hung them back up in his closet to keep them wrinkle free and put on the old clothes. He walked back downstairs to see Ludwig waiting at the bottom of the bottom of the stairs. Gilbert feared what his brother was going to say.

"Opa left to go get some groceries for tonight's dinner. He wanted me to make some buns for it. Would you be okay with going to start and I'll be right over when I put the bread in to rise?" Ludwig looked legitimately concerned.

"Oh come on West, don't give me that look. I'm not going to do anything stupid. It's just unloading a truck right? I'm good at that kind of stuff. I'll be fine, work on your buns West." Walking past his brother he gave him a thumbs up and smiled before he opened the door and looked across the road to see which house he would have to go to. Seeing it he closed the door and slowly made his way to his new neighbor's house. He didn't see anyone out at the truck at the moment, so he decided he would get the boxes out of there first and leave them by the door to make it easier for them, and he would have to talk to them less. Was a win win in his opinion.

Looking in the truck he saw a girl there with her back to him. From behind Gilbert could tell that she was about his age – probably Alfred's sister. She was in old clothes, which looked suspiciously like she had stolen them from her brother's closet. She probably didn't want to wear a dress. Gilbert looked more carefully at her silhouette from behind, she had some nice curves underneath those clothes – he could tell. Her ass looked soft but firm at the same time; how is that possible? Her hair looked soft and shone brightly even in the shadows – it was incredible. She turned around and Gilbert was struck with light violet eyes that were hidden behind a pair of thin wire glasses. Her hair framed her face which was small and round and was a little flushed from moving boxes.

Her pink full lips moved, but Gilbert didn't realize she had said something until he noticed that her face looked slightly confused. Damn, he must have been gawking. He had to get past this, gaining his composure again he slapped on his famous smirk – every girl fell for this smirk, it had to work. He posed with one hand on the truck above his head and the other on the bumper step thing, leaning a bit forward.

"What was that, sweetheart?" He looked up at her, his smolder placed on his face. She looked down at the floor of the truck and her already flushed face turned so red, it was kind of cute.

"I, uh, said that my name is Matthew."

…

Well, it was time to go jump off a cliff now. Gilbert had never been more embarrassed. His facial expressions changed so fast; his smolder was gone and he doubted that it would ever return again.

"Shit man, I am so sorry." He fidgeted, not really knowing what to do with himself. He couldn't just go run in front of the next car that drove down the road, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Uh, no! Don't worry about it. Really, it's okay. This happens more than what you think. Unfortunately."

"Jesus. That's rough. I think we both want this behind us a soon as possible." Gilbert climbed into the truck and walked up to Matthew. He held out his hand, "forgive and forget?"

Matthew took the out reached hand, "agreed." They shook once and quickly let go out of each other's hand.

"I'm Gilbert by the way. I live across the street. Apparently my grandfather elected me and my brother to help you guys unload the moving truck. So, here I am. I'll just start carrying boxes to the front door for you guys." He bent down and grabbed two boxes.

"Right. Thanks Gilbert." Matthew set the box he had in his hands and climbed down from the truck before picking it back up and carrying it into the house.


	3. Project Time

Maple Leaves and Gilbirds

Project Time

1955

The night before didn't go as bad as Gilbert had anticipated it to have been. After that first impression he had left on Matthew, he thought he fucked for the rest of the day. But Matthew was gracious about it; he really did forgive and forget. They had unloaded the truck by the time that Ludwig had come over apologizing for coming over later than he had anticipated. Apparently his dough was not turning out the way he had wanted it to so he had to scrap it and start over. He did however help take the boxes into the house and Gilbert helped Matthew with his boxes, taking them up to his room. They had decided to set up the bed before they opened the boxes to have at least one thing put away decently before they tore the boxes to shreds and had the contents everywhere. At least they would be able to put most of it on the bed so they had space to walk.

As they had set the bed up Matthew started asking questions about the town. He wanted to know what there was to do for fun, what the school was like, the best place to go out to eat, the usual stuff you would want to know when you move to a new town.

Gilbert told him that there wasn't much to do for fun, dances were held on Friday and Saturday nights at the town hall and it was fifty cents to get in. Otherwise there was a bowling alley; drive-in movies were going on until the beginning of October. Other than that there wasn't much for fun unless you were invited to any parties over the weekends. "School," he started "is school. It shouldn't be any different from any other school around America. You've got your bullies and your nerds. We got quite a few jocks too; football is very big around here. I think there should be a game this Friday if you like football."

"Ah, you are talking to the wrong person, I'm more of an ice hockey person. Alfred is the person you are looking for if you are looking for someone who gets excited about football games." Matthew was putting in some screws to get the frame put together properly. Gilbert went just outside of the room to grab the spring box and mattress and put them down when Matthew had finished with the screws.

"Let's see, there is this really good diner on main street. They sell the best baked custard in the Mid-West. Their dinner rolls are good too, but Ludwig's are better. He says he does something special to the yeast, but whatever he does – they are the best buns ever." Gilbert grabbed a box and put it on the bed so he didn't have to bend over when getting things out. Matthew grabbed the drawers to his dresser and put them in so he had a place to put most of his clothes.

Gilbert opened a box and found that it was a bunch of t-shirts. "Which drawer did you want me to put the t-shirts in?" He had pulled out a stack of them and walked to the dresser where Matthew was putting in the last drawer.

"Um, the third one down is fine." The blond had gone to grab the second stack of t-shirts and put them away before closing the dresser drawer while Gilbert pulled out the pants that were on the bottom of the box.

"Pants at the bottom?" He asked as he opened the door slowly, looking back waiting for an answer.

"Um, no. You can put them in the second drawer down." Matthew busied himself with unfolding the box and making it flat that he missed the confused look Gilbert gave him. He thought it was universal that everyone put their pants on the bottom of their dressers. Guess not.

He closed the bottom drawer and opened the second and neatly put the pants in.

"Can you open the first drawer please?" Matthew had come up behind him with an arm full of underwear and socks and dumped them into the drawer after Gilbert opened it. He rearranged them and shut it.

By the time dinner had come around the house was looking like a home. There were lots of boxes in the living room still, but Matthew said that his father had to rebuild the book shelves again so they could put the books that were in the boxes in. They both walked across the street and Gilbert opened the door. He was instantly slapped in the face with the smell of fresh baked buns and what suspiciously smelled like Opa's pot roast. He peeked into the dining room and didn't see the table set yet, so he supposed that dinner wasn't done yet and he and Matthew's families were in the sitting room talking. He didn't know if Matthew wanted to do that, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Hey, they are in the sitting room. Did you want to go in there and wait for dinner, or I think I am going to go up to my room if you want to come." Matthew seemed to be torn between the two options.

"Why don't we go up to your room, I think Al is asking about getting on the football team and I kind of don't want to listen to it, if that's okay of course."

"Matt, why would I offer it if I wouldn't be okay with it?" Gilbert said as he started up the stairs, Matthew tailing him.

"To be polite?" Gilbert turned around and gave him a dumbfounded look.

"Matt, what kind of friends did you have before?" Gilbert watched the blond drop his head a bit.

"Well, I've never really had friends to be honest. I kind of seem to be over shadowed by Al."

"I see. Well, consider me your first, awesome real friend. I won't let your brother over shadow you. In fact, I know this Saturday my friends and I are going to hang out for a bit, maybe drink a bit. If you want to come you are more than welcome." Matthew looked up and smiled a bit.

"Well, I don't really drink but maybe that would be good, sure I would love to come."

"Go where Mattie?" Gilbert and Matthew looked to the bottom of the stairs and saw Alfred there looking like he was just about to go out the front door to go get them from his new home.

"Oh, Gilbert just invited me to go hang out with him and his friends this Saturday." Alfred looked at Gilbert in surprise. It was like it was this was the first time he had ever seen someone be serious about inviting his brother places, which, if what Matthew had said was true, then Gilbert supposed that he probably wasn't off with his assumption.

"Nice! That's awesome! What were you guys gonna do?"

"Um, well my friends and I were planning on just having a small bonfire, maybe drinking a bit, but Matt said that he doesn't drink, so I guess we would just have to bring something else for him." Gilbert had answered for Matthew; he didn't really go into much detail. "I suppose if you'd like to come too Alfred that would be okay."

"I'll have to see what's going on with football – that is if I get on the team. But I'll keep it in mind. Oh! I was supposed to go get you guys; dinner is ready." Alfred got louder as he went on and Matthew looked up apologetically.

"Alright, I thought dinner was gonna be a bit so we were just gonna go up to my room and relax a bit, but I guess it was gonna be done sooner than I thought." Gilbert and Matthew walked down the stairs and went with Alfred to the dining room where they found everyone else sitting down ready to eat.

Gilbert and Ludwig where currently in the kitchen, each eating a small sandwich made from Ludwig's amazing buns he had made the day before and a cup of coffee. It had taken a lot of coaxing and promises of making curry wurst sandwiches for their lunches to get Gilbert out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready. Ludwig would never know how his older brother could sleep through his loud alarm every day, but somehow he did and the younger would have to make promises of food to get him out of bed. Once he was out of bed it was easy to get him to do things, like get dressed and eat, etc. Ludwig was lucky enough to get him out of bed early enough to get him fully awake so he could drive his car, because god forbid anyone drive his car other than Gilbert himself.

They finished and Ludwig took all the dishes and quickly washed them and set them to dry in the wire dish basket next to the sink. Gilbert went back upstairs to his room to grab his thick leather jacket that was definitely going to be much too warm for the weather right now, but it made him look awesome so he would deal with it.

Clomping his way downstairs he opened the door and found Ludwig already sitting in his baby. Oh how he loved his car; he saved every almost every penny (he did have beer he needed to buy) for a year straight and he was able to buy his 1950 Cadillac. Snagged it for a steal when old Mr. Jenson down the road had fallen in his house and his daughter felt at that point he was too old to live by himself, so she sold his house and everything they couldn't use – which also meant his car; the one that Gilbert was currently walking to. He glanced across the street and took a double take when he saw Matthew and his brother coming out of their house and were seemingly walking to school.

"Hey! Do you guys need a ride?" To be honest, Gilbert didn't really know why he had suddenly felt the need to ask them. He never offered people he just met to hop in his car and he'd give them a ride anywhere. Even the girls he was 'seeing'. Half the time he was salty about taking his friends places, usually they would take Francis' car if they were going to parties or such because Gilbert was so anal about his car. Well he supposed he couldn't take back the offer now – but he didn't fully regret asking for some reason. Whatever was wrong with him he had to get over it now because Alfred had apparently replied and they were both heading over to his driveway.

"Thanks Gilbert! You really saved us. I kinda didn't want to walk today." Alfred and Matthew climbed into the back of the car and shut the door. Gilbert walked to the driver's side and started the car. Rumbling to life, he put the car into reverse and backed out of his driveway before changing transmission and riding along the road in the direction of the school.

"If you guys want, you can catch a ride from now on. We leave at about this time usually and about fifteen minutes after school ends." Gilbert fumbled with the radio still not knowing what he was doing. Was he really offering a ride for them every day? He avoided Ludwig's curious stare and concentrated on the road.

"Awesome, if it's okay with you I think we will, right Matt?" Alfred replied, a little too loudly. That seemed to his personality. Gilbert would need to get used to it now he guessed.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks Gilbert." Matthew was so different from his brother. Gilbert almost couldn't hear him while he messed with the radio he was so quiet.

"No problem guys." He looked in the rear view mirror at the two brothers and even though they looked so alike, they acted so differently. Alfred was taking up as much space as he needed and touching the inside of the backseat window as he looked out. It looked like Gilbert would have to wash that later.

Matthew on the other hand sat close to the door and somehow he delicately looked outside the window. Gilbert didn't know someone could look so dainty while doing that, but Matthew did.

"So I forgot to ask, what grades are you guys going into?" Gilbert had given up with the radio and turned it off. Now he had to find a way to get rid of the silence between the four of them.

"Matt and I are going into our junior year, what about you guys?" Alfred had almost hit his head on the roof of the car, he seemed a little too excited to be talking.

"You guys are in the same year?" Gilbert had just assumed that Alfred was the older of the pair, but maybe that wasn't the case.

"Of course! Matt and I are twins; we have to be in the same grade." He said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I didn't know that. But I'm finishing my last year here and West here is in the same grade as you guys." Gilbert checked his rear view mirror again and saw a confused look on Alfred's face.

"I thought you were the younger one Gilbert." Alfred said innocently. Gilbert heard a chuckle to his right and looked over at Ludwig who had a hand up to his mouth covering his smile and muffling his chuckles.

It was the last hour of the day before Gilbert could break free of the prison that school was. He walked into his history class and chose a random seat in the back and waited for the teacher to start the class. He looked around the room and saw a mixture of juniors and seniors. History was a mandatory subject, but you only needed to take three years of it – meaning that one year you could skip it completely. Gilbert had chosen to do that last year because he wanted an easy senior year, so he filled up on the harder courses his junior year to sit in paradise prison for his last year.

While his teacher began the class and Gilbert scanned the room; his eyes stopped on a certain blond that walked through the door, late. No one really noticed, even though he was standing in the front of the classroom looking for a seat. Gilbert waved a bit and pointed to the empty seat that was to his right – Matthew saw this and relief washed over his face. Taking the long way around, he set his books on the desk before quietly sliding into his seat.

"Welcome to your first day of class. I am Mr. Bergschrund, and this is American History."

Gilbert and Matthew walked out to the car after they had been stopped by Alfred and Ludwig saying that they needed to stay after for football. They said they would be done at five so Gilbert agreed to come back to pick them up.

"So when do you want to work on the project?" Matthew asked when they were on their way home.

"To be honest, I usually work on it on the last day before it is due. But we can work on it whenever you want." Gilbert looked over at the blond who stared at him in disbelief.

"Gilbert, how can you do that? Doesn't it worry you that you won't get it done on time if you procrastinate for so long?" The driver laughed full heartedly.

"Matt, I get all projects done on time with a few extra hours. I never really worry about it because I'm confident that I would get it done on time."

"But wouldn't it be best to just do it and get it done first and then turn it in early and then go and do whatever you want?" Matthew asked, still shocked.

"I guess for me it doesn't matter either way. But if you want to work on it now and get it done then we can do that." Gilbert shook his head, laughing a bit. Matthew was like his brother in that respect he guessed. Ludwig never procrastinated, he got his work done first before he played. He had also heard quite a lot of worried comments from his brother about his procrastination. But he never had a late assignment, so he wasn't changing his routine anytime soon. Well, he wasn't changing his routine when it was just his work, when it was a partnership he would work on it whenever his partner wanted to.

"I think I would like that very much." Matthew pulled a sheet of paper out of his bag. "Okay so the assignment is to pick a war in American history to compare and contrast to the current war in Vietnam now."

"Yes, that is the assignment."

"Which war in American history do you want to compare and contrast?"

Gilbert thought for a minute. "Well, why not do the American Revolution? It has tons of information already, and we have heard the history of the war since we were in seventh grade."

"I was actually thinking the exact same war. It should be easy to find specific information – it's been dissected so much already. It would probably be the best choice." Matthew nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I think we have a few books at my house about the American Revolution if you want to go there." He was a bit hungry, that left over pot roast in his fridge would be great about now.

"Sure, but we have a whole bunch of books on this topic too, but let's start with yours today, I will go through the books tonight after my father finishes the book shelves." The car stopped and Gilbert turned it off.

"Yeah that's fine, let's go in. I'm hungry." Gilbert got out and used his keys to open the front door.


End file.
